Yet another converter box/digital TV question

15 years ago

As I've mentioned before, I installed a converter box on my kitchen TV. The reception is erratic, and I wonder if it will always be this way.

Sometimes a station will come in, and other times it will say "No Signal." All the channels, by the way, appear with another number next to them, such as 16-1 and 16-2, if that tells you anything.

My NBC station often has audio and video problems. The sound skips, and the picture turns into clumps of pixels.

Will these issues disappear once the transition is made to digital? Or will this become one more of life's little annoyances on a more or less permanent basis?

Thanks,

Susan

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

Tally
15 years ago
I know you have had a lot of issues with this digital conversion.

It's really difficult to analyze your reception situation - it's more complicated than just the converter box. Are you on cable, on satellite or are you still using an antennae?

If you have a service your best bet would be to contact them. If you're not using a service, perhaps you should contact someone and discuss the advantages? Using a straight antennae could have more reception complications than just digital versus analog.

I don't know. My recommendation would be that you consider a cable service. Or, contact a TV repair place that could address the antennae issue and your entire set up - box, conversion, television model, antennae, cable etc..
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Tally. I'm using an antenna--a large antenna atop one of my son's ham radio towers. Before the converter box was installed I received the four networks plus PBS and one other. Reception was usually quite good.

Cable wasn't available here until fairly recently, and for years -- until my son installed the antenna -- I had no TV reception at all. I enjoy being able to watch it now if I want to, but it isn't important enough to me to write a check to the cable company every month.

I was just curious about the quirky reception, wondering if it's part of the transition process.
Related Discussions
TV converter boxes not working
Q
Comments (6)
Thanks! All I can tell you is that it is a Magnavox set-top box used to convert a regular TV, so that it can receive digital signals. I did try looking up an online manual for the box and decided then--from its appearance-- that it was probably the model TB100MW9. But the manual didn't help me much! No, there is no cable service involved, just broadcast TV. After I turn on the TV, I have to turn on the box before I can receive any picture at all. The first box actually worked fine for a year or so--and brought in quite a few channels--before developing the problems I mentioned. These days it will seldom produce a picture at all. The second one is the same model. And, although it will bring up the picture right away when turned on, it tends to cut out frequently. I suspect it was probably donated to the thrift store for that reason!
...See More
Do I need to buy 2 different brands of digital tv converter boxes
Q
Comments (5)
Many of the digital converter boxes are made by the same company. I believe the LG, Insignia, and Zenith boxes are the same and would probably have interchangeable remote controls. I haven't seen any of the boxes with built in timer capablility.
...See More
Yet another Digital TV Question
Q
Comments (7)
There was a site out there that had maps of which digital station covers which areas. I thought it was fcc.gov "reception maps" but today the map for my area in blank so I am not so sure of the URL. In my area one station was on a different mountain from the other three and the map suggested the antenna would need to be rotated to get all four channels which theoretically cover parts of the area.
...See More
Digital TVs and need for cable box?
Q
Comments (3)
Thank, Mikie. Yeah, I saw the "consumer alert" on the pre-digital tuner sets displayed at the stores. Well, we made our purchase, yet this time the sales guy said we won't need a cable box after 2009 "just because" (like the first guy said) on the new sets (for basic cable programming), just for the old analog sets. Guess we'll find out then....... Tracey
...See More
Cherryfizz
15 years ago
Your antenna might have to be adjusted. The antenna must be able to pick up the digital satellite signal and if it is not facing the right way you will most likely have problems.

My converter box allows me to check for antenna signal strength.

Anne
iowagirl2006
15 years ago
You might get a better signal once they do the switch-over in February. For now (at least in my area) they are broadcasting the digital signals UHF. I have contacted one of the engineers at the CBS affiliate in Des Moines, and his email explains a lot. This was written this past summer:

It's actually not an issue with signal strength, but rather many stations are using *different* channels at this time for broadcasting digital, than they will be after 2/17/09.

For instance, we are presently broadcasting our digital signal on UHF channel 31, because our VHF channel 8 is still tied up being an analog transmitter until next February.

A digital receiver will already call our digital channels by their "virtual" names of "8-1" and "8-2", once the receiver initially discovers the signal on channel 31.
But, our signal won't be on "real" channel 8 until next February.

Channels 5, 11, and 13 in Des Moines are doing similarly with temporary UHF channels, and plans to move their digital signals down onto their traditional VHF channels next February. Other stations are going to stay on their present digital UHF channels, and are effectively already done with the digital transistion, except they still haven't shut off their analog transmitters.

But even though our UHF channel is temporary, we are still broadcasting it at full strength. It's legally maxed-out at a level that is intended to replicate the coverage area of analog channel 8. BUT, receiving our digital signal just as well as analog depends on having home UHF reception that's just as good as VHF reception. Admittedly, for many homes, this is not the case. Some people have VHF-only TV antennas. Sometimes, the little "UHF loop" on their indoor rabbit ears don't pick up as well as the longer VHF aerials.

In my opinion, the best kind of antenna is still the good-old-fashioned rooftop-style VHF/UHF antenna. But, even if you have one of those, old antenna wire or old signal splitters may be preventing the higher-frequency UHF channels from carrying down to the TV set as well as the VHF signals do. And, finally, UHF sometimes doesn't do as good of a job of holding up over long distances and penetrating natural or man-made obstructions as VHF signals do.

Therefore, even though we are transmitting digital at "full power", there are a number of reasons that some viewers may not receive the digital as well as analog, most of them related to poor UHF reception. Some people may experience improved digital reception after 2/17/09, if they haven't already taken steps to improve UHF reception by that time.
Marilyn Sue McClintock
15 years ago
We too had the same problem with our old television and the converter box. Solved the problem last night, bought a new television. It seems much better at least so far. We have the old fashioned antenna on our roof.
iowagirl2006
15 years ago
I agree with Marilyn - the reception with a new DTV (actually a HDTV) is much better than the set-top box on the old TV - with the same hookup to a rooftop antenna.